Ukraine's Zelensky unhappy with Putin's words about Russians and Ukrainians

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelenskyy commented on the statements, which his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin made about Ukraine during his Q&A session with Russian citizens on June 30. 

In particular, Putin stated that Zelensky had transferred Ukraine under external management. All decisions that Kiev makes are made in Berlin and Washington, Putin stated. 

Zelensky replied that those remarks were a propaganda mantra that was not true to fact and was designed for Russian "internal consumer." 

Zelensky also said that Kiev was in charge of its own decision-making. Kiev solves its problems on real issues independently, and does not resort to the help of "shadow intermediaries who are now under house arrest or on wanted lists."

Zelensky added that Ukraine's international subjectivity has significantly increased in recent years.  US President Joseph Biden did not talk much about Ukraine during the recent meeting with Putin in Geneva, he added. 

Russia and Ukraine are NOT one people

When speaking about Ukraine during his Q&A session on June 30, Russian President Putin also said that he did not think of Ukraine as a Russia-unfriendly nation. According to Putin, Russia and Ukraine is one people, but the Ukrainian administration "clearly unfriendly" towards Russia, he said.

Zelensky strongly disagreed with those remarks as well. Russians and Ukrainians are not one people, Zelensky said, although there are things that are common for both nations, the Ukrainian president said. 

According to the Ukrainian president, Russia and Ukraine share their history, including the victory over fascism and national tragedies, as well as memory, neighborhood and relatives, "but we are definitely not one people." 

“If Ukrainians and Russians were one people, then Moscow would most likely have hryvnia (the Ukrainian national currency - ed.) in circulation, and a yellow-blue flag would be flying over the State Duma (the Russian Parliament -ed.),” Zelensky said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba claimed that a chasm appeared between the Russians and Ukrainians after Russia's "aggression" in 2014, when Moscow "killed thousands of people and snatched away a piece of territory."